72 



during ungenlal summers in any part of England, and 

 to enable them to be ripened at all in the open air of 

 some districts, flued walls are requisite. It must be 

 borne in mind, however, that little firing should be 

 applied in the early part of the season, the object 

 being not to force forward the blossoming of the trees 

 in spring, but to accelerate the ripening of the fruit 

 and wood in autumn."^ The maturation of the wood 

 may, in some cases, require the border to be thatched 

 to throw off heavy rains, and lessen the flow of mois- 

 ture to the shoots. Thorough draining, however, with 

 the use of maiden loams unmanured, and rather shal- 

 low planting, in general will be sufficient without this 

 thatching. 



The following directions are given by Mr. W. 

 Irving, gardener to Sir J. C. Swinburn, of Capheaton, 

 N.B., and though the early use of heat is most suited 

 for that northern climate, yet the other treatment 

 may be adopted in any latitude. His flued walls are 

 built in the common way, twelve feet high, with three 

 turns, or levels, of flues, forty feet each in length, 

 vrith a handsome trellis the height of the first flue, to 

 save the trees from being scorched by the heat of the 

 fire : this allows of more fire without hurting the 

 trees. 



* As far north as Scotland, it is found desirable to hasten the 

 blossom by lighting the fires earlier, and to continue them occa- 

 sionally whilst the trees are blossoming. 



